Agree to Disagree
by The Princess Bride
Summary: A missing scene from OotP. Ron and Hermione don't fight... often.


"You're always having a go at each other, it's driving me mad."  
  
Hermione knew she was doing a respectable imitation of a goldfish at the present moment, but couldn't care. She stared at Harry's back in disbelief, watching as he shut the doors of the Great Hall in the most dramatic fashion possible. After staring at the doors for a few moments, she turned to face Ron, wearing what was probably the same expression she had just held.  
  
"He's being..." she struggled for the exact word to describe Harry's behavior without saying he was being a total bitch.  
  
Because that was just _rude_.  
  
"A complete wanker," suggested Ron darkly, turning away from the doors and staring at his food. He pushed it away. "Sod it, I can't eat now. Seriously, he's been like this since summer; what is going on?"  
  
Well, never mind her decision against profanity. Under normal circumstances, Hermione would've chided him for his language, but her heart wasn't in it. "I think he's just under a lot of pressure," she said carefully, "and is just now beginning to release his emotions instead of holding it all in, and since we're around him so often -"  
  
"You don't have to defend him," Ron said. "He's far gone."  
  
"In that case," she said brusquely, "he's being an idiot. Not a - a wanker, just an idiot. There's a difference!" she added, rolling her eyes when Ron opened his mouth to interrupt.  
  
He smirked. "I got you to say 'wanker,' didn't I?"  
  
"You weren't holding a wand to my head. I said it myself."  
  
"In which case we can break out the champagne and make sure that hell hasn't frozen over."  
  
"Ron, can we get back on the subject?"  
  
"Which was...?"  
  
"Harry's attitude problem."  
  
Ron drummed his fingers against the tabletop, looking thoughtful for once. "I think you were right, tactful as that whole speech was," he muttered at length. "He is under a lot of pressure, and we really can't understand it. The You-Know-Who stuff, I mean. We don't have nightmares and stuff."  
  
"He also doesn't have to bite our heads off every time we say something," Hermione said, glad she was able to say what had been on her mind for so many weeks. "Look, Ron, it's not our fault. We've been nothing but supportive, and he just yells and throws a temper tantrum, what are we supposed to do with that? If there's one thing we can't do, it is be his scapegoats. All we have to do is... be patient, I guess."  
  
"It's hard to be patient when he's yelling -" Ron paused, his ears going slightly red. "That stuff, about us rowing all the time."  
  
Hermione chewed on her lower lip. "That wasn't right of him. I mean... we don't fight that much."  
  
"Of course not," Ron agreed hastily.  
  
"We - we have _disagreements_, of course, but everyone does!" she added weakly. "And I guess we're just a bit more vocal about it than most people, that's all."  
  
Ron nodded eagerly. "Yeah. It's better to get it out in the open than bottle it up, eh?"  
  
"Yes, yes."  
  
There was a short pause. Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil got up from their seats a bit of a way down the table and began walking out of the hall. As they passed by, Hermione grabbed Parvati's arm and asked in an almost desperate tone, "Do Ron and I argue often?"  
  
"Is the Queen Mum really, really old?" said Dean rhetorically. Parvati giggled and the two of them moved off.  
  
Hermione stared at her fingernails for a few moments, then looked at Ron despondently. "All right," she conceded. "Maybe we do... you know, row more than most people. We could always just - you know, tone it down when he's around. How's that? If we disagree with each other we can talk about it in private. We have to try and be civil when he's around. I like Harry much better when he isn't angry," she added.  
  
"Yeah," Ron said slowly. "We'll tone it down. But, Hermione, I don't think we'll _ever_ stop arguing about stuff. Besides, Harry's never been bothered by it before, so why all of a sudden should we tiptoe around him?"  
  
"Oh, I know, of course," she agreed quickly. "He was wrong to just snap like that. Harry has to stop taking out his temper on us, and in return we'll try to find a way to settle our disagreements in a mature and peaceful manner." She paused, then asked curiously, "What do you mean, we can't stop arguing? Why not?"  
  
Ron shrugged. "I dunno. Just because... well, we've been doing it for a while," he said lamely. "It's like a habit. You say something, I say something, you yell. I say something, you correct me, I yell. That's what our friendship is founded on -- a mutual agreement that we don't agree on anything, and when we do I'll still find a way to be sarcastic about it. And then you'll yell, and so begins the cycle."  
  
Hermione blinked. She never realized he felt that way. Or that a pattern had developed. "Oh," she said, fishing for something to say. "Well, I mean, you're right. It's just -- erm, I think we should work on fighting less, anyway." Her eyes strayed to her watch for a moment, and she got up from the bench. "Come on, it's nearly second bell."  
  
"I didn't even hear the first one," Ron grumbled, but he followed Hermione and the rest of the stragglers as they rushed toward the exit of the hall. As they reached the entrance hall, where it was much less crowded, he turned to her and asked, "You mean that even if Harry, like, didn't exist... you'd still think we should not fight as often."  
  
"Well, you know, it can't be healthy," she said as they ascended the staircase. "And it's better for our relationship."  
  
For some reason Ron's ears darkened again and he was quiet. Hermione went over what she had said, and decided it was her use of the word _relationship_ rather than _friendship_. She could have said something cutting, but instead she patted Ron on the arm. "Just make sure you tell Harry that we've stopped fighting and for him to stop biting our heads off, okay?"  
  
"Oh -- yeah, okay." Ron came out of his reverie. "See you later."  
  
"Good luck," Hermione said. She squeezed her way around two frantic first-years and was just about to climb another staircase when she heard her name being called.  
  
It was Ron, from about twenty feet down the corridor. "What did you mean, it can't be healthy for our relationship?" he yelled.  
  
"What do you _think_ it means?" she yelled back, and would have said more if the first years hadn't asked her where the Charms corridor was located. After she had finished giving directions, she looked up, but Ron had apparently left for class.

_Just a mindless little drabble. La la. Dean's line was borrowed from one of the Angus, Thongs... books. I honestly don't know which one. I'm thinking the first, but I could be wrong. In any case it isn't mind. Harry's line is all JKR._


End file.
